Brewer's: Adam's Profession

Gardening, agriculture. Adam was appointed by God to dress the garden of Eden, and to keep it (Gen. ii. 15); and after the fall he was sent out of the garden “to till the ground” (Gen. iii. 23).

“There is no ancient gentlemen, but gardeners, ditchers, and grave-makers; they hold up Adam's profession.”

—The Clown in Hamlet, v. 1.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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